This giant turbot was landed at Plymouth Fisheries in Sutton Harbour on May 29th by local inshore netter the Carly Ann, which caught the fish in its nets.

The Turbot weighed 15.5 kg! The British record for a turbot caught on rod and line was set in 1980 with a fish of 13.6kg captured off Salcombe in Devon, and a 15kg turbot was landed in Brixham in October 2014. The average weight for a turbot is around 8kg.

The giant turbot landed in Plymouth was sold through the market to Rob Goodacre of RG Seafoods based in Torpoint, which also purchased the giant conger eel landed in Plymouth recently. The fish was then sold to The View restaurant in Whitsand Bay.

Rob Goodacre said: "This was an enormous fish, and bought by The View to make more than 30 portions of turbot to serve in its restaurant."

Plymouth Fisheries Manager Pete Bromley said: "Records relate to fish caught by rod and line and not commercial fleets, but this was certainly an impressive fish and of a very large size. It would usually command a very high price but unfortunately this is the season when the netting fleet target turbot, which are abundant at this time of year, and as always, oversupply can affect price. Turbot can also be damaged when they are caught in nets, bruising the flesh, so not all of it is useable.

"Turbot are considered to be one of the finest fish available to eat, and can be found gracing the menus of some of the best restaurants. One factor determining the price of all fish is the fillet yield, and turbot have one of the lowest, with the fillet to waste ratio being as low as 35 to 40 per cent. The high value of the species has led to some quite intensive farming, and farmed fish have an even lower yield.

"There is often a debate over fresh run and farmed fish but in my opinion, the beauty of the turbot is its huge strength, born out of a lifetime of hunting and surviving in the wild, so I don't believe farmed turbot produce the same quality of flesh."

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Since relocating the Fishmarket in 1995 our 'No Problems, only Solutions' approach to our customers has proved a winning formula for Plymouth Fisheries at Sutton Harbour. Many times we have had record landings of fish, crabs and scallops totalling annual amounts of over £19million.

This makes Plymouth the second largest Fishmarket in England by value and an incredibly important UK asset in the fisheries and fishing industry. This remarkable success story comes about at a time when many other ports in the country are in serious decline.